| Claims 1. Apparatus (1) for shaping food, comprising an elongated hollow, preferably cylindrical housing (2) at the first end (3) of which a tool (4) is arranged in the form of a cup for containing the food to be shaped, a plate (5) being contained in the tool, the external outline of which has complementary shape to the internal outline of the tool, said plate being displaceable arranged in the longitudinal direction of the housing by a rod (6), said rod (6) being biased by a spring (7) provided in the housing for ejecting the shaped food out of the tool, and the tool with associated plate (5) being interchangeably arranged to the housing and the rod, respectively, so as to allow change of size and shape of the tool and the plate, characterized in that a handle (12) is rigidly connected to the rod (6) and adapted to run in a slot (13) of the housing, which slot extends in the longitudinal direction of the housing, for changing the position of the plate (5) in the tool (4) . 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the spring (7) is a pressure spring, the spring force of which can be adjusted by displacing in the longitudinally direction of the housing an adjustment means (9) placed at a second end (3') of the housing opposite to the tool (4) . 3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a means (11;12;21) is adapted for adjusting the amount of food that can be contained in the tool (4) . 4. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the means (11) for adjusting the amount of food that can be contained in the tool is a sleeve (11) , which sleeve can be displaced along the housing (2) on the outside of the same and be fixed at distinct positions of the housing, and that the handle (12) in the filling position of the tool is adapted to rest against the sleeve (11) . 5. Apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the means (12; 21) to set the amount of food that can be contained in the tool is a pin (21) or the handle (12) adapted to be fixed in one of several holes (22) arranged in the rod, which pin/handle is adapted to run in a slot (13) in the housing, and that in the filling position of the tool the pin/handle rests against one end of the slot (13) in the housing (12) . 6. Apparatus according to any of claims 3-5, characterized in that the housing (2) at the slot (13) is provided with marks (16) for showing the amount of food that can be contained in the tool (4) . 7. Apparatus according to any of claims 1-6, characterized in that the first end (3) of the housing (2) is provided with an external thread (17) extending over a longer portion of the first end for adjusting the amount of food which can be contained in the tool (4) . 8. Use of an apparatus according to any of claims 1-7, for shaping food. |
Field of the invention
The invention relates to an apparatus for shaping food, a so called multishaper, comprising en elongated hollow, preferably cylindrical housing, at the first end of which a tool is arranged in the form of a cup for containing the food to be shaped, a plate being contained in the tool, the external outline of which has complementary shape to the internal outline of the tool, said plate being displaceable arranged in the longitudinal direction of the housing by a rod, said rod being biased by a spring provided in the housing for ejecting the shaped food out of the tool, and the tool with associated plate is interchangeably arranged to the housing and the rod, respectively, so as to allow change of size and shape of the tool and the plate. The invention relates also to the use of such an apparatus.
Background of the invention
When shaping food (provisions) , particularly highly viscous, pastry food, such as for instance minced meat for manufacture of hamburgers, falafel dough for manufacture of falafels, it is desirable that the food will have the same shape, i.e. the same size and thickness so as to facilitate the subsequent treatment of the food such as roasting, deep-frying etc.
By GB1352813 it is know an apparatus for shaping food, by which apparatus the amount of food to be shaped can be easily adjusted. However, this apparatus is not provided with any means for automatically ejecting the food out of the tool.
BY DE2506433 it is known an apparatus for shaping food, which apparatus comprises a housing and a tool with a plate displaceable arranged in the tool. The plate is arranged to
RECORD COPY-TRANSLATION (Rule 12,4) return to its retracted starting position in the tool by a spring provided in the housing.
It has now turned out that it would be desirable to provide an apparatus for shaping food by which it is possible to shape food products having different diameter and/or thickness and which also can have different shapes. It is also desirable to be able to adjust the force of the spring for ejecting food out of the tool dependent on the size and the consistence of the shaped food and that it should be easy to disassemble and put together the apparatus for cleaning the same.
Summary of the invention
The object of the invention is to provide and apparatus for shaping food having an interchangeable tool and associated plate and with a possible to adjust the force of the spring in an easy way, which spring is adapted to act on the plate for ejecting food out of the tool, and which apparatus should be easy to disassemble and put together.
This object is achieved according to the invention by an apparatus for shaping food, comprising an elongated hollow, preferably cylindrical housing, at the first end of which a tool is arranged in the form of a cup for containing the food to be shaped, a plate contained in the tool, the external outline of which has complementary shape to the internal outline of the tool, said plate being displaceable arranged in the longitudinal direction of the housing by a rod, said rod being biased by a spring provided in the housing for ejecting the shaped food out of the tool, and the tool with associated plate is interchangeably arranged to the housing and the rod, respectively, so as to allow change of size and shape of the tool and the plate, characterized in that a handle is rigidly connected to the rod and adapted to run in a slot of the housing, which slot extends in the longitudinal direction of the housing, for changing the position of the plate in the tool.
The object of the invention is to provide an apparatus by which food, particularly food having high viscosity, easily can be shaped to the same shape and thickness in a tool, which tool and associated plate easily can be changed. By the apparatus is also provided that the thickness of the shaped food easily can be adjusted.
Short description of drawings
The invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, on which
- Fig. 1 is a schematically sectioned side view of a first embodiment of an apparatus for shaping food in a first embodiment,
- Fig. 2 is a schematically side view in section of a second embodiment of an apparatus for shaping food,
- Fig. 3 is a schematically side view in section of an apparatus for shaping food having a tool which has larger diameter than the tool in Figs. 1 and 2,
- Fig. 4 is a side view of the apparatus in Fig. 1,
- Fig. 5 is a schematically side view in section of a third embodiment of an apparatus for shaping food,
- Fig. 6 is a schematically broken perspective view of a tool having a different shape than the one shown in Fig. 1, and
- Fig. 7 is a schematically broken perspective view of a further tool having a different shape than the one shown in Fig. 1. Description of preferred embodiments
Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of an apparatus 1 for shaping food, comprising an elongated hollow, preferably cylindrical housing 2 at the first end 3 of which a tool 4 is arranged in the form of a cup for containing the food to be shaped, in which cup is contained a displaceable plate 5, the external outline of which has complementary shape to the internal outline of the cup. A rod 6 is provided in the housing and is displaceable in the longitudinal direction of the housing, which rod 6 is biased by a spring 7 provided in the housing for ejecting the food out of the tool. The tool 4 is removably attached to the first end 3 of the housing and the plate associated with the tool is in its turn removably attached to a first end 8 of the rod 6. Both the tool and the plate are preferably attached to the first end of the housing and the first end for the rod, respectively, by means of threads. This makes it possible to on one hand change the tool and the plate associated to the tool for changing the size and shape of the tool and of the plate, and on the other hand a simple dismounting of this portion of the tool 1 for cleaning the same.
At a second end 3' of the housing 2 the spring 7 is arranged. The spring is mounted between a second end 8' of the rod 6 and an adjustable spring biasing means 9. The spring biasing means 9 runs displaceable through a cover 10 which is fastened by threads, for instance, to the second end 3' of the housing 2. The spring biasing means 9 is in its turn displaceable arranged in the cover 10 by threads, for instance. Thus, the force of the spring may be adjusted by displacing one of the spring biasing means 9 or the cover 10 or both in the longitudinal direction of the housing, i.e. that they are screwed into or out of the housing 2. It is thus desirable to increase to power of the spring when a tool having larger diameter is mounted on the housing and/or the thickness of the shaped food is increased or vice versa.
In Fig. 1 a sleeve 11 is shown threaded over the housing 2 and adapted to cooperate with a first handle 12 for adjusting the amount of food that can be filled into the cup. More particularly, the housing 2 is provided with a slot 13, in which the first handle 12 is adapted to run. The first handle 12 is attached, preferably by threads, to the rod 6. A second handle 12' is arranged at the housing 2 in the vicinity of the second end 3' of the housing. The sleeve 11 may be adjustably fixed in the longitudinal direction of the housing 2 by a screw 14 shown in Fig. 1. The end of the screw 14 can be screwed so as to abut a bevelling 15 arranged on the outside of the housing 2 so as to improve the contact surface of the end of the screw against the housing and thereby the attachment to the housing. The handle 12 is in the filling position of the tool adapted to abut against the lower edge of the sleeve as seen in Fig. 1.
Fig. 2 shows a second embodiment of the apparatus 1 for shaping food. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in the way the amount of food to be filled in the cup is adjusted. Instead of a sleeve 11 a pin 21 is attached, preferably by threads, to one of several holes 22 arranged in the rod 6. The pin is adapted to run in the slot 13, and in the filling position of the tool abut against the upper edge of the slot, as seen in Fig. 2. By moving the pin between the holes the amount of food, which can be filled into the cup, is adjusted. Instead of the pin 21 the handle 12 may be place in one of the holes 22 och will then act in the same way as the pin 21 for determining the amount of food which can be filled into the cup. When filling the cup with food the handles 12, 12' are pulled towards each other until the handle 12 abuts against the sleeve 11 in the first embodiment or the pin 21 abuts the edge of the slot 13 in the second embodiment, whereby the plate will be set to right position in the tool/cup. More particularly, the cup may be filled in several ways for instance by pressing the cup into a lump of a suitable amount of food placed on a surface and adapted to the volume of the cup in such a way that the cup will be totally filled by the food, or the cup may be filled by a utensil, for instance a spoon, or by the hand to the right amount.
Fig. 3 shows the apparatus 1 having a tool with larger diameter for shaping hamburgers, for instance. In other respects it is similar to the apparatus shown in Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is a side view of the apparatus 1 whereby it can be seen that the housing 2 at the area of the slot 13 is provided with an indications/indicated dimension 16, in the shown embodiment in mm. By setting the lower edge of the sleeve 11, as seen in Fig. 4, at a determined figure 20, for instance, this means that the handle 12 can be displaced 20 mm. This means that the plate 5 can be displaced 20 mm upwardly relatively to the tool 4. This results in that the relative thickness of the food product to be shaped can be determined in a simple way.
In Fig. 5 a third embodiment is shown of an apparatus 1 for shaping food. In this embodiment the first end 3 of the housing 2 is provided with an external thread 17 which extends over a longer portion of the first end. The tool 4 can thus be screwed along the thread so as to adjust the thickness and thereby the amount of food in the tool. This adjustment can be made on its own or in combination with the adjustment by the sleeve 11 in Fig. 1 or the pin 21/handle 12 in Fig. 2. In this embodiment a lock nut, not shown, is preferably arranged for locking the tool 4 at a suitable position along the thread of the housing 2.
Figs. 6 and 7 show a schematic broken view from above of the tool 4 in the form of examples having different shapes for obtaining non-uniform foodstuffs. It is obvious for the man skilled in the art that the tool may be formed so as to have a lot of different shapes. Furthermore it is obvious that the external contour of the plate 5 shall correspond with the inner contour of the tool/cup.
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